Question: Gabriela buys a basket of coconuts on sale for $\$11$ before tax. The sales tax is $5\%$. What is the total price Gabriela pays for the basket of coconuts? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Solution: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of coconuts. ${5\%} \times {$11} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $5\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{5}{100}$ which is also equal to $5 \div 100$ $5 \div 100 = 0.05$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.05} \times {$11} = {$0.55}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Gabriela paid. ${$0.55} + {$11.00} = $11.55$ Gabriela needs to pay $$11.55.$